Son arrested in BSP leader Deepak Bhardwaj's murder case

Realtor Nitesh Bhardwaj has been arrested for the murder of his billionaire father Deepak Bhardwaj last month, police said Tuesday.

Nitesh's aide Baljeet, an advocate, was also arrested for the March 26 murder of the real estate tycoon and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader.

"We had detained Nitesh Sunday for questioning and arrested him Tuesday," a police officer said.

With this, six people have been arrested in this case.

Earlier today Nitesh, was called for questioning in connection with the murder of Bhardwaj at his farmhouse in south Delhi's Rajokri on March 26, while Swami Pratimanand, who allegedly arranged shooters, is on the run.

Gone in 19 minutes: Three assailants shot dead Deepak Bhardwaj from point blank range and then fled in a Skoda

Asked whether Nitesh had been placed under arrest, an official said he was being questioned.

Police sources said a contract of between Rs three to six crore was paid to kill Bhardwaj and Pratimanand had allegedly received Rs two crore.

Four persons -- two alleged shooters Purushottam Rana and Sunil Mann, Amit who drove the car in which the shooters fled and the owner of the car Rakesh -- were arrested earlier in connection with the case.

Police also recovered two country-made pistols from a canal in Rohtak which were allegedly used to murder Bhardwaj. Sources yesterday said the desire to set up an 'ashram' of his own prompted the self-styled guru to allegedly take up the contract to kill Bhardwaj.

They said Pratimanand, who was thrown out from some ashrams, wanted to open one of his own as he wanted to establish himself. For this, he needed money and for the past 18 months, he was on the look out for plots in Haridwar, Karnal and Solan.